Key Insights
- World Liberty Financial applied to issue a national trust charter to manage the USD1 issue.
- USD1 was approximately valued at $3.4 billion, and it is used in payment settlement and treasury.
- The trust focuses on institutional conversion of custody and token asset plans.
World Liberty Financial seeks a national trust charter as USD1 moves deeper into regulated payments.
World Liberty Financial has taken a formal step toward federal oversight as stablecoins continue to expand beyond trading and into payment and settlement infrastructure.
The company confirmed that its affiliated entity, World Liberty Trust, has filed a de novo application with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to operate as a nationally chartered trust bank.
The filing positions World Liberty Financial among a growing group of crypto-focused firms seeking to bring stablecoin issuance, custody, and conversion under a single federally regulated framework.
If approved, the charter would allow the trust to directly issue and safeguard USD1, the dollar-backed stablecoin launched by the project last year, and integrate its operations more closely with regulated financial institutions.
According to the company, the application was submitted to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Treasury bureau responsible for chartering and supervising national banks.
The move reflects an effort to place USD1 further within the U.S. regulatory perimeter, as stablecoins are increasingly used for payments, settlement, and treasury functions, rather than purely for trading activity.
USD1 Stablecoin Growth and Institutional Use
USD1, the dollar-linked token at the center of the application, has grown to approximately $3.4 billion in market capitalization.
The stablecoin has already appeared in major crypto transactions, including a $2 billion stake purchase in Binance that was executed using USD1 by a third-party investor.
World Liberty Financial stated that institutional usage of USD1 has expanded beyond trading activity.
Source:businesswire
According to the company, the stablecoin is being used for cross-border payments, settlement, and treasury operations.
Zach Witkoff, who will serve as president and chairman of the trust entity, stated that the charter would enable these services to be offered under a single, regulated framework.
The proposed trust structure is designed to bring issuance, custody, and conversion together within one entity.
World Liberty Financial stated that this approach would enable institutions to access stablecoin services with a bank-level regulatory framework, rather than relying on multiple service providers operating under different regulatory regimes.
World Liberty Financial’s Institutional Focus
World Liberty Financial has positioned the trust bank as an institutional-facing business. The company claims to target exchanges, market makers, and investment firms that require custody and stablecoin conversion services. Such services would be provided by a national trust bank under the proposed model, as opposed to a non-bank crypto entity.
The filing states that the trust would restrict itself to core operations related to stablecoins, as opposed to providing a full spectrum of commercial banking services. Such a limited focus is consistent with the model allowed in national trust charters that usually limit operations to fiduciary and custodial services.
Regulatory environment and similar disclosures.
The filing puts World Liberty Financial in the company of other digital asset companies seeking federal trust charters. In December, the OCC conditionally approved large crypto entities, including Circle and Ripple, indicating a broader path to regulating the banking activities of stablecoins.
These grants highlighted the regulator’s readiness to consider national trust schemes for digital asset companies that meet compliance and supervisory requirements.
According to the company, the trust was structured to reduce governance risks, and operational control was under a federally regulated organization, which was under the supervision of the OCC.
Stablecoin Development into Tokens.
In addition to payments and settlements, World Liberty Financial has announced that it will combine its stablecoin infrastructure with tokenized real-world assets.
The company has stated that these initiatives include tokenization projects tied to commodity sectors such as oil and gas.
In December, executives confirmed that several real-world asset products are scheduled to launch early next year and are expected to play a role in collateralizing USD1.
In parallel, World Liberty Financial has proposed allocating a portion of the WLFI treasury to support the use of stablecoins across both centralized and decentralized platforms.
The company stated that the objective of this plan is to expand USD1’s utility and liquidity across various market venues.
